HONOLULU - Delegates met behind closed doors for a two-day global climate change conference in Hawaii but were not expected to make major progress on setting limits for greenhouse gases.
Yvo de Boer, UN climate chief, said participants - which include the United States and China - would likely use the opportunity to take stock of last month's talks in Bali, where countries agreed to adopt a blueprint for reducing greenhouse emissions by 2009.
Germany, Japan and the United Nations are also among those with delegates at the meeting.
Delegates, including top environmental officials reporting directly to presidents and prime ministers, aren't expected to make much progress outlining mandatory limits on the gases.
That's in part because the gathering that began Wednesday is only scheduled to last two days.
It's also because the host of the Hawaii meeting, the United States, has objected to mandatory cuts proposed by the European Union for industrialized countries. Washington has said the reductions would slice too deep, too fast.
Even so, delegates said they expect to use their time to discuss in greater detail some of the ways countries -- both industrialized and developing -- can reduce their emissions.
Among the issues being discussed is how developing countries may acquire the technology to burn coal more efficiently or capture and store carbon emissions in huge underground containers. Delegates were also expected to discuss how to help developing countries prevent deforestation.
Jim Connaughton, the chief U.S. delegate and White House environmental chief, said he hopes participants would reach an understanding on how industries, or different sectors, might reduce their emissions. This would complement national efforts, he said.
"Don't know yet. We have to now begin to outline these outcomes but there's a lot of enthusiasm here for the discussion," Connaughton said after the first day of talks.
Down the hill from the meeting Wednesday, environmental activists drew a line along seven city blocks showing where ocean levels would likely rise to in the next 50 to 100 years if global temperatures continue to climb.
Alexa Hettwer, 16, said her neighbourhood and her school are among the areas expected to be flooded.
"This really brings it home," she said of the chalking exercise.
"I didn't realize everything I knew would be underwater."
